Vicki Corner
Owner/Director

Vicki Corner is the founder of Equitas Care, opening the company in May 2008 with just four residents. She and her son Brodie, who suffered a brain injury at age three, identified an unmet need in their local community for younger people wanting to leave home and live independently from their families.

Vicki trained first as a Psychopaedic Nurse then retrained as Comprehensive Nurse. She has completed additional study in the areas of brain injury rehabilitation, clinical practice, and health law.

Vicki worked as a Registered Nurse at Templeton hospital where she acknowledged then that she had a passion and commitment to do the right thing by people with disabilities. This was followed by retraining to ensure she was able to move into positions where she was able to make a difference, firstly as a Clinical Manager for NZ Care participating in the deinstitutionalisation of Templeton hospital. She then moved on to the role of Clinical Coordinator for the Assessment Treatment and Rehabilitation Unit at Hillmorton. Subsequently she undertook the role of Community Services Manager for St John of God before starting Equitas Care.

Vicki’s standards and service delivery expectations of a quality service are all based on what she would expect for her own son.

Two years ago Vicki gave up the role as Managing Director but continues to own Equitas and have an active role as a Director and daily contact with the residents and staff.

Vicki has two children Brodie and Samantha who are both involved with Equitas.

Rachelle Mathews
DIRECTOR

Rachelle joined the Equitas Care Ltd Board in November 2023. She is a member of the Institute of Directors and holds post graduate qualifications in management and cross cultural studies.

Rachelle is an experienced professional services firm manager who has held business development and senior leadership positions for 10+ years in six medium to large law firms across New Zealand, and in Australia. She is experienced in quality management, health and safety, people and capability, strategic planning, board operations and governance.

Passionate about diversity and inclusion outcomes in business, Rachelle has a rather eclectic portfolio of directorship, board and community relations positions, including a position as Trustee at Kilmarnock Enterprises Trust. 

One of her teenagers has special needs and is non-verbal so she has empathy with vulnerable individuals and their whanau. Rachelle’s personal values align closely to those which drive the vision of Equitas and she is delighted to serve an organisation where rehabilitation, independence and personal goal setting provides the basis for all service delivery.

SAMANTHA MURRAY
DIRECTOR

Samantha is Vicki Corner’s daughter and has been a part of Equitas since its inception. Her brother Brodie lives in the Avon Gate home. Samantha studied Neuroscience at university as she has always been fascinated by the complexity of the brain and how it functions in health and disease.

She gained her PhD in Neuroscience in 2017 and now works as a scientist studying neurodegenerative diseases.

Samantha spent a year as the administrator at Equitas in 2017, giving her insight into how the business is run at an operational level. She enjoyed this role as she was able to spend more time in the homes getting to know the people that Equitas supports.

Samantha also volunteers on the board of the Huntington’s Disease Youth Organisation of New Zealand (HDYO NZ), a charitable organisation with a mission to support, educate, and advocate for young people impacted by Huntington’s disease.